Last week Glenn Poshard, president of Southern Illinois University, asked the chairman of the university’s education department to review his 1984 dissertation. That request was in response to the revelation that the paper contained improperly cited and unquoted material taken from other sources — what in most cases would be regarded as plagiarism.

But it appears that the department head declined to conduct the review, saying that a “committee with broader academic representation would be more appropriate,” according to a written statement.

Some professors at Southern Illinois had wondered whether it was fair for the president to hand-pick the person who would offer a verdict on his dissertation — someone who might well need the president’s support on some other matter. It’s unclear, though, whether that’s what prompted the reconsideration.

As for what happens now, the statement said the university’s Board of Trustees was still figuring that out. Stay tuned. ... —Thomas Bartlett